Reunions Can Be So Much Fun
by dawnlight55
Summary: Slightly AU. May be OOC. The Winx have grown up and have gotten jobs (this is way after the 5th season). The story of a quest that brings them back together as a group. Mainly Musa and Riven (follows Musa). Rated T for language and some sexual references (also to be on the safe side).
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Winx Club

**Author's Note**: Sorry it's a bit short. I promise that the next chapters will be longer. I might lengthen the chapters later so keep checking back.

* * *

The air was dense, it dripped with frustration and anger. The tension could be felt throughout the bodies of the duo; it sparked and radiated under and up their limbs. The clouds cast shadows on the earth as if telling the feuding couple that this was the wrong decision. The girl's hair on her neck was bristling and her lips were pulled back in a snarl. The man's fists were clenched and his eyebrows were tense in hate. In an attempt to make the couple stop shouting the sky opened up and rained upon the duo. The rain hit their skin, reminding them of the day they met and the day they had their first kiss. The effort was to no avail. Each person had made their bed and were going to lie in it.

"I can't believe you," the girl spat.

"Me? I can't believe you," he snarled. Their faces were inches apart and there was passion that leaked into the canyon between their heads, but that passion was not a beautiful passion, it was a hateful fervor.

"You are so difficult. You could have avoided this by not interacting with that, that slut!" the girl hissed. Her eyes had began to form tears and on threatened to fall off the edge. She shook her head in an effort to clear her mind, but it was filled with the memory of walking in on him and another girl, naked.

"Maybe I wanted her," he smiled, pleased that she responded as if she had been injured.

"That's not what your explanation was when you begged me to take you back," she coldly replied.

"I didn't beg," he objected.

"So you down on your knees claiming you loved me wasn't begging?" she sneered. He was trying to hurt her and she would show him that it wasn't going to work, even if she felt like shit on the inside.

"I've never loved you," he took a shot at her. That was the breaking point. That was the end of the argument.

"Well I'm glad to know that now so that I don't commit any more of my life to you," she said, her voice cracking and breaking with each word. She turned away from him and walked in the opposite direction down the sidewalk.

She was finished with him and his mood swings, finished with his inability to tell her how he felt or to even warn her that she was being overbearing. She was sick of his jealousy and would never be able to get the image of him and the other girl out of her head.

* * *

They had been at a party. It was a few years after they had graduated from Alfea and Red Fountain, respectively; she was around twenty one years old and he was twenty two. She hadn't seen him for a while and decided to investigate. It was nice to see her friends, but she wanted him to be there with her so that she wasn't so alone. After she had said goodbye to Bloom she had ventured upstairs to find him in case he was feeling sick and had to lie down. She heard noises and grunts outside of one of the doors and opened the door to see if he was in there doing something. What she saw had nearly broken her heart.

"Riven," the girl gasped in shock. Her mouth was hanging open like a dope and her eyes were opened wide with disbelief.

"Shit, Musa it's not what it looks like," a very naked Riven quickly said. His bottom half was covered by the white cotton sheet that was also covering the body of the blond in his bed. Musa had never seen the girl in her life and never wanted to see either of them again.

"I think it's exactly how it looks," Musa cried out. She turned around and ran out of the room as the tears began to stream down her face.

After that incident they had had a ton of arguments, usually ending up in either Musa or Riven storming off. He had tried to explain himself and assure her that he loved her, but in the end she decided that she couldn't trust him which led to that fateful day where they finally broke up, for good. He had blamed her and she had blamed him for their problems and they definitely didn't part on amicable terms.

* * *

It had been five years since the day they had broken up and Musa had become a superstar. After the breakup, she dedicated her life to singing and it paid off in the fact that she became a hit overnight. She kept in touch with the Winx Club and still used her magic now and then, but she wanted to try to keep it in the past considering it brought up not so good memories of Riven for her.

Riven had joined up with a special tasks unit for the Magix government. He was finally using his specialist training for good. He slept with the occasional female and hadn't really changed from his cocky self. He had honed in on his skills and was considered a top agent for the government. He had seen Musa rise to stardom and although he would never admit it to himself, he was proud of her. The other thing that he would never admit was that he really missed her. He missed not being able to come home and tell her all about his job. He missed her singing beautifully in the shower and he missed the scent she always left in his apartment. He figured that after what he did she would never want to speak to him again, nonetheless see him again, but fate would have it that they would need to see each other a lot more for the greater good of Magix.

* * *

"Musa?" the voice on the phone asked.

"Who's this?" Musa asked. Her assistant had told her she had a phone call, but the caller hadn't disclosed their identity.

"It's Layla," the voice identified itself.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I have good news, bad news, and more bad news," Layla said.

"I'll take the bad news first," Musa began to be worried. It wasn't normally like Layla to call her. They usually texted and then would get together at a club to catch up. Layla was working with a special tasks force, different from Riven's, that dealt in evil wizardry and such, basically your average Baltar, Darkar, or Tritannus.

"Well there's a new evil lurking and I'm afraid that I have to ask the rest of the Winx Club to help," Layla used their old moniker to describe the group of close friends.

"What evil?" Musa asked curiously.

"We're not sure, but I definitely need you guys to help. That's the bad and good news. The bad being that there is evil lurking, the good being that we will all be working as a team again," Layla clarified.

"I haven't used my full powers in five years," Musa chuckled lightheartedly. The evil didn't faze her that much since she had dealt with evil in all of her years at Alfea. She was also happy to be able to work with the group again.

"Wait, what's the other bad news," Musa asked, remembering Layla's comment.

"Well, you see," Layla paused, "when I say the whole group, I literally mean the whole group. Bloom and Sky will be there, so will Stella and Brandon, Tecna and Timmy are going to be on communications and tech and Flora and Helia will be there," Layla hesitated with her last piece of information.

"Please tell me that you didn't call him to join to," Musa let out a labored moan.

"He's one of the best for the Magix government. I wouldn't have asked him if I thought we wouldn't need him, but we do need him," Layla said.

The line was silent for a good minute as Musa tried to process what Layla just told her. Layla basically told her that her ex-boyfriend would be joining them on a mission and that Musa would be expected to work with him.

"Musa?" Layla hesitantly asked.

Layla heard a large groan on the phone and understood that Musa had needed time to fully comprehend the situation.

"Does he know that I will be on the case?" Musa asked.

"No," Layla squeaked.

"What?" Musa exclaimed in horror.

"I didn't tell him because I wanted to be sure he was in and I thought that that piece of information might have swayed him one way or another," Layla explained.

"Layla, I swear I will hunt you down and hurt you," Musa began to threaten.

"We're meeting tomorrow at seven in the evening at my apartment to go over the basic details, see you then," Layla hung up the phone quickly.

The line went dead and Musa began to pace about her apartment. She was, what was she? She was confused. Many emotions were flashing across her face and she wasn't sure what she was more of. She was angry? Definitely. Sad? That was a yes. Hurt? Of course.

"Crystal!" Musa called out for her assistant.

"Yes?" Crystal came into the room. Crystal was a bit older than Musa and treated Musa like her own child, which Musa didn't mind that much.

"Cancel everything for tomorrow," Musa grimaced. She looked down at the clock and realized that it was late. She dismissed Crystal for the evening and heading off towards her bedroom.

She walked over to the closet and reached up on the top shelf to grab the box down from the wooden board.

The box had a thin layer of dust on it and an even thinner layer of dust in the shape of fingerprints.

She carefully lifted the lid and placed it on the floor before hopping up onto the bed. Musa pulled out the stack of photos that was in the center of the box. There were other little knickknacks, but Musa decided to shuffle through the photos.

There was a photo of her and Riven sophomore year. It was when they were dancing at the party after they had defeated Darkar and the Trix.

There was another photo of her and Riven during their junior year. He was sitting on his bike looking at the camera with a grim look on his face, although it was common for him to have a grim look. She was facing the camera and had a pleased smile on her face.

Musa sighed and tucked the photos back into the box. She was sick of the walk down memory lane and decided to get some shut eye for the long day that was ahead for her in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm here," Musa said walking through the doorframe. She looked about the room at the smiling faces and let out a sigh of relief when she didn't see the face that she was dreading to see.

"Musa! You're here," Stella squealed. She got up and ran over to Musa to embrace her in a tight hug.

"Hi Stell," Musa choked out. Stella was squishing her lungs up against her ribcage which made it uncomfortable for Musa to breathe.

"We've missed you," Bloom came up to stand by Stella and Musa. Once Stella relinquished her hold on Musa, Bloom embraced Musa. It was a much gentler huge than the one Stella had given her.

"Is that Daphne?" Musa asked, looking at the small child that was sitting at Sky's feet.

"Yeah, the nanny couldn't look after her so we decided to bring her along and introduce her to her extended family," Bloom smiled and let go of Musa.

"Tecna," Musa said happily as she slung her arms around the pink-haired fairy. She and Tecna had been roommates and close friends, but they had lost touch when they had gone their separate ways after Alfea.

"Musa, it's been so long," Tecna mirrored Musa's embrace.

"It really has," Musa said, pulling back, "where's Timmy?"

"He's setting up the communications system with Brandon."

Musa roamed her eyes around the room and realized that Brandon was indeed missing. Her eyes rested on the soft spoken nature fairy that had made her way over to the group.

"Hey Flo," Musa said.

"It's been a long time Muse," the nature fairy took Musa into her arms for a bear hug.

"How's the little one?"

"He's growing up to be the opposite of his father, although I think Riven has something to do with that," Flora commented. She placed her hand over her mouth when she realized she had mentioned the very person Musa had hoped to be avoiding at the shindig.

"That's nice," Musa said, still giving her best smile even though behind it she wanted to run and hide from the episode that was about to take place.

"Thanks for coming Musa," Layla walked over to the girls.

"Wouldn't miss it," Musa turned to look at Layla. Layla understood that Musa very much wanted to miss it, but had come because she was a good friend.

A figure walked into the room, but the girls and the guys didn't notice. The figure swiveled his head about the room taking in the people and pictures on the walls. His eyes scanned over the group, but had to go back when they registered a figure that they hadn't seen in a long time, five years to be exact. He looked at the girl in the center of the group up and down. It couldn't be, could it? He definitely hadn't expected it and when Layla had called and asked him to do it for the government he hadn't thought that she would have called the girl at the center of attention. Even if he backed out, his superiors would no doubt make him rejoin the group again so he wasn't going to argue against it. Musa began to look about the room and he saw that her eyes were filled with worry. Her eyes scanned the doorway and narrowed in on the shadow the light casted over the doorway. He saw her body go stiff and her mouth slack. She had seen him, no doubt; he might as well make his presence known.

"Hey guys," his husky, deep voice traveled to the girls and then rippled out to the edges of the group to where the guys were hanging out. Everybody, minus Musa who had turned her back to the doorway, looked towards Riven. He couldn't help but release a smile onto his face. Deep inside he had been pleasantly surprised to see Musa, although he would tell you that he was smiling because he became the center of attention instead of her.

"Riven," Bloom nodded in acknowledgement. Her feet stayed firmly planted on the carpet and the other girls gave their greetings, but stayed where they were. The guys were glancing from their wives and girlfriends to the figure standing in the doorway, unsure of whether they could greet their friend or if they would get yelled at for it later.

_They are seriously whipped_ Riven thought to himself. Riven looked over to Musa and saw that she was nervously twiddling her thumbs.

"What's up?" Helia was the first to venture over to the former specialist.

"Not much. What's up with them?" Riven tried to make a joke as he gestured with his head over at the group of girls that was now huddled and talking quietly.

"You know what's up with them," Helia rolled his eyes.

"Are they still angry about that?" Riven ran his hand through his hair.

"You did break her heart," Helia replied, telling the truth which wasn't welcome on Riven's ears.

Riven grunted without replying to Helia's comment. He had hoped that the topic would be avoided, but knew that it definitely would not be ignored.

"How's the special tasks unit suiting you?" Brandon asked. Brandon gave a worried glance over his shoulder at Stella, knowing that she didn't want him to be friendly with Riven, but she wasn't looking and Riven was his friend.

"Fine," Riven replied simply. He was looking around the guys and trying to catch a glimpse of Musa. He really hadn't seen her in five years. Both of them had been great at the avoidance game.

"Okay, let's start," Layla halted all conversations. Everyone turned to look at her.

"You might as well get comfortable," Layla suggested. The former Winx and the former Specialists moved about the living room to try to find a seat. Musa sat on the couch without noticing who was sitting next to her. When she turned to look she saw Riven. Her heart sank in her chest and her brain froze over. The two looked at each other and sized the other up. She scooted closer to the armrest in an attempt to get as far away from him as possible.

Riven noticed her move and noted that she looked as uncomfortable as a fish out of water. He could always play with her by moving closer to her, but he wasn't in the mood to get an earful out of her so he let her be.

"There has been some stuff going on lately," Layla stated even though everyone had already deduced that that was the case, "so far we're not sure what we're dealing with. There have been various attacks on government buildings and it seems that the evidence that is left behind that connects all the attacks is that the buildings are left in chaos and all of them looked like a tornado had gone through them."

"Stormy?" Tecna asked.

"We're not sure. There were no signs of ice and none of the workers were dazed or confused. If it was Stormy then she's working alone," Layla replied.

"Could it be someone that we've never seen before?" Bloom inquired, asking the question that most were thinking of.

"That seems the most probable case," Layla answered.

"Do we have any idea what their motive might be?" Musa chimed in from the couch. Riven looked over at the pixie, she was pressed to the armrest, as close as she could get herself. He let out an inward chuckle at her expense.

"Not yet, but they seem powerful," Layla said.

"So we're basically going in blind," Tecna stated.

"Basically," Sky muttered. Daphne was crawling all over his arms so Bloom leaned over to take her so that Sky could concentrate. Daphne quieted down when she was given to her mother.

"I don't like the sound of that," Brandon remarked.

"I don't think anybody does," Flora put in her two cents.

The whole group agreed on one thing, the whole operation would be risky considering they had no idea what they were up against. The likely answer would have been Stormy, but it was highly unlikely that Stormy would be working without her sisters. The other possibility would be that it was a new foe or a foe that was working with Stormy. Whatever it was, everyone agreed it was going to be tough to go in blind.

They debated about details and went over different hypotheses and scenarios of battles until all of them were exhausted. Musa had given up on trying to be as close to the armrest as possible and instead was leaning calmly against the back of the sofa. Riven was still sitting close to her, but she barely noticed him there anymore. Layla had seated herself in a folding chair and was discussing details with Brandon and Sky. Bloom had taken Daphne to the bathroom and had been gone for a while. Flora was talking with Helia, Tecna and Timmy, who had returned midway in the briefing. The only ones who weren't engrossed in conversation was Riven and Musa.

"So," Riven began, "how's it going?" he asked awkwardly. Neither was very sure what to say to each other since the old feelings of anger were still there. They hadn't left on great terms and weren't returning on terms that were any better than the original.

"Fine," Musa replied simply. She didn't bother to look at him and instead scanned the room. She watched as Sky, Brandon and Layla were having an in depth conversation about battle tactics and couldn't help but smile at the awkward couple of Tecna and Timmy. They may not talk a lot, but they were perfect for each other.

"I heard you were, um, a big superstar now," Riven said, running his hand nervously through his hair. He was only trying to converse because for the mission they needed to trust each other which involved some level of communication.

"I guess," Musa shrugged. Her eyes were focused ahead of her and she could feel the anger below the surface of her skin.

"Look, if we're going to be working together we have to have some level of trust and communication," Riven attempted to be diplomatic. Despite his best efforts, Musa was not in the mood for diplomacy.

"I'm communicating right now," she hissed, the sides of her mouth were beginning to curl up in a snarl.

"Fine," Riven muttered.

"Fine," Musa's temper began to calm down.

The two sat in silence for the remainder of the meeting. They would occasionally be asked a question by the other group members and would answer it, but they mainly kept their eyes straight ahead and their body parts as far away from the other person as possible. It was easier that way.

"I think that concludes our first meeting," Layla said, wiping the sweat from her brow after a heated argument on which was the better strategy with Brandon, Sky and Helia.

Bloom and Sky got up from their seats and Bloom handed the sleeping figure of Daphne to Sky to carry.

Flora and Helia said their goodbyes and left right after Bloom and Sky.

Riven left after Flora and Helia saying goodbye to everyone, including Musa who halfheartedly returned the farewell.

Brandon and Stella bid their goodbyes and left to go back to Solaria until they had to meet with the group again.

Timmy went to grab the levabike for him and Tecna which left the three remaining fairies with lots to talk about.

"I can't believe you didn't claw his face off," Tecna stated in surprise.

"I wanted to," Musa replied honestly. As much as she wanted to, she knew she would never be able to. He just had too much of a hold on her heart, much to her displeasure.

The girls heard a honk outside of the house.

"That's Timmy," Tecna said, "I'll see you later Musa."

"Bye Tecna," Musa called out as Tecna walked through the doorway.

"How're you doing?" Layla asked once Tecna was gone.

"I'm okay. My manager has me working like crazy though," Musa sighed. Before she had come to Layla's house she had been in the recording studio for a good six hours.

"That's not what I really meant," Layla raised her eyebrow at Musa.

"I know what you meant. I'm trying to be civil which is hard when you leave on terrible terms with someone," Musa shrugged.

"I had to ask him. He's the best at what he does," Layla exaplained.

"I know," Musa hung her head.

"He's probably got a good idea about what to do and who it is," Layla said.

"He didn't vocalize it if he does know," Musa mumbled.

"He was sitting next to you," Layla joked.

"Well, that is true," Musa agreed.

"Anyways, how's the music going?"

"Stardom is not as good as everyone says it is. I don't really enjoy getting bombarded with crazed fans," Musa explained.

"That sucks, a lot," Layla mused.

"No kidding. I have to go to Linphea tomorrow for one of my concerts. I was planning on surprising Flora so don't tell her," Musa let out large yawn.

"Will you be back by next week?" Layla questioned.

"Probably, it's only a minor tour. I'm hitting Linphea and Solaria then going back to Melody. I should be available for next week," Musa was trying to remember her chaotic schedule.

"Okay, I'm checking with my supervisors for more information and then I'll probably call another meeting, but it'll be at the office rather than here since my technology isn't as up to date here," Layla informed Musa.

"Okay," Musa yawned, she was too tired to be concerned about her issue with the group, "I think I'm going to head home. I have a long week ahead of me." She headed for the door as Layla called out to her.

"Take care of yourself Musa," Layla chided. All of Musa's friends have been worried about Musa. The breakup hit Musa really hard and the girls, and even the Specialists, could tell that she didn't take it lightly. That was partly the reason the girls were still angry with Riven. The fact that he "ruined" their friend was enough to hold a grudge in their opinion.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey there, thanks so much for bothering to read my story, it really means a lot. So I've been a little down lately because the Boston Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup Finals (I cried/whined/screamed/cursed a total of five or so hours after the game) and I know it's only a hockey team/game, but my life revolves around hockey (NHL and my own team). I may change a few things later, but I don't really like to go back in my writing so here's to hoping that the first time is the charm. I left a cliff-hanger, I'm terrible…sorry. I'll try to update ASAP so that I don't get yelled at. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey Flora," Musa smiled as she stood on the stoop of Flora's and Helia's house. She had indeed surprised the nature fairy who didn't even know that Musa would be in Linphea.

"Musa," Flora gasped in surprise, she looked over behind her shoulder before looking back at the music fairy, "what are you doing here?"

"I just finished a special concert. It was a gig for a girl's birthday whose father was a wealthy Linphean diplomat. They had me performing at noon," Musa shrugged.

"I can't believe you're here," Flora stepped out onto the stoop and gave Musa a hug.

"So how's the family? We didn't have a lot of time to catch up yesterday," Musa asked.

"Fine. The girl's are up with," Flora paused, "I should probably warn you," Flora trailed off.

"What?" Musa questioned, her curiosity bubbling up in her chest.

"Well, the girl's are playing with," Flora hesitated, "Riven."

"Oh," Musa replied in a monotone voice.

"Yeah, he's staying with us for awhile, while his apartment is getting cleaned."

"Cleaned?"

"He had a run in with a criminal in his apartment I guess," Flora shrugged to show that she didn't know that much about the incident.

"Oh," Musa managed to choke out again.

"Do you still want to come in?" Flora raised her eyebrows and gave her an "I'm sorry" look.

"Why not?" Musa gulped.

"Come on," Flora took Musa's hand and pulled her into the house.

"Hey girls," Flora called out to her daughters as each girl looked up towards the door, "look who came to visit."

"Musa!" Rose screamed in delight. Rose was big into music and admired the musical fairy.

Musa glanced in the direction of the magenta-haired man that was sitting in the middle of the living room around a table that had teacups on it. Who knew Riven had a soft side?

After taking a quick peek she avoided all eye contact with the man.

"Musa, can you sing for me?" Rose asked. She ran over and hugged Musa's legs.

"How about later?" Musa asked.

"Hi Musa," Rose's sister, Lily, shyly came over to Musa and Rose. Lily had her fingers stuck in her mouth and was slurping on the extra saliva that spilled over the red ridges on her face.

"Hey there Lily, how're you doing?" Musa cooed to the young girl.

Lily's face became flushed with brightness and her eyes lit up like a fireworks show.

"I'm good," Lily said happily, her pearly white teeth peeking out of her open mouth.

"Musa! You have to meet Uncle Riven," Rose grabbed Musa's hand and began to pull her, with extreme difficulty, towards the spot where Riven was sitting on the floor.

"Rose, I have to, uh, see your father first," Musa begged. Musa had dug her heels into the soft, plush, white carpet, but the little girl was resilient and Musa knew that Rose would not stop until Musa had met Uncle Riven.

"I'll take you to see Daddy," Lily's face shone bright as she took Musa's other hand carefully in her little palm.

"Lily stop it! Musa's coming with me first," Rose let out a wail that was between a command and a whine.

"I'll come with you in a minute Rose, go play with Uncle Riven for awhile. I'll be right back," Musa attempted to calm the child. She raised her eyes and they met Riven's for the first time since she had walked through the door. She gave him a look that asked him to help.

Flora had gone into the kitchen to get drinks and snacks for the girls and the guests a few minutes ago so it was just Riven, Musa and the children.

Riven gave a small cough before he waved at Rose to come over and sit by him.

"Come on Rose, let, uh, Musa go see, uh, Helia," Riven awkwardly stuttered.

Rose turned her head to look at Riven and gave him a glare before roughly letting go of Musa's hand. Musa gave him a nod to show her appreciation before she let Lily lead her to where her dad was.

"Why didn't Musa want to meet you, Uncle Riven?" Rose crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave a short huff. Her face was squished into a pout, her lips were down in a frown and her nose was crinkled with wrinkles.

"Uh, I already know Musa," Riven ran his hand through his magenta hair. He had been completely thrown off by her surprise arrival, not that he was complaining, he just hadn't been ready to see her.

"How do you now Musa?" Rose asked with her face turned up to look at him. Her eyes were expectant and her small, dark, eyebrows were raised in question.

"We were good friends," Riven skipped around the actual ordeal between him and the girl on Rose's mind.

"You and Musa are friends?" Rose questioned. Her crinkled nose unwrinkled itself and her mouth began to open in a smile in wonder. Rose hadn't understood the past tense in Riven's explanation.

"Sure," Riven replied. He didn't have the heart to tell her that Musa hated him and he used to hate her, at least he did in the heat of the moment during their last argument. He wasn't so sure what he felt now.

"Where's Musa?" the nature fairy asked, coming back into the living room with a tray full of glasses.

"She went to find Helia because Rose was trying to introduce her to me," Riven shot Flora a knowing look.

"She said she would meet Uncle Riven later, but they already know each other," Rose smiled first at Flora and then pointed her head in Riven's direction.

Flora nodded slowly and attempted to process the situation and figure out the best course of action so that Riven and Musa wouldn't be pushed into an awkward situation.

"Here, have some juice Rose," Flora handed a sippycup to the small girl.

"Thanks Mommy," the little girl took the sippycup from her mother's hands.

Riven looked over towards the doorway that Musa had disappeared into and couldn't help but let out a longing sigh. It's not like he'd admit it out loud, but he was really starting to miss her musical voice and her, in general.

"Come on Musa," a soft voice said. Riven kept his eyes on the doorway as a small child with dark black hair appeared in the doorway, followed by a grown female with silky black hair. Behind the female was a male, otherwise known as Riven's friend and Flora's husband, Helia.

"I'm coming," Musa replied with a small laugh.

Lily led Musa back into the living room. Rose jumped up from the floor and ran to grab Musa's other hand.

"Come on Musa, you have to see Uncle Riven. He says you're friends," Rose gave her a huge grin.

"He said that we're friends?" Musa couldn't help but ask skeptically.

Riven looked down at the carpet when she uttered those words, so much for being civil to each other.

"Come on," Rose dragged Musa towards the magenta haired male sitting on the carpet.

Rose eventually managed to get Musa over to the man and sat down, pulling Musa's arm and forcing her to sit next to Riven's legs which were sprawled out in front of him.

"Say hi to Musa," Rose nugged Riven in the side.

Lily had come over to the little group and had sat on the other side of Riven where Musa and Rose were not sitting. Helia and Flora were giving each other worried looks, knowing how heated Musa's and Riven's arguments could get, behind the couch. In front of the couch was the odd couple of Musa, Riven and the two little twin sisters.

Riven looked at Rose and then at Musa who was avoiding his glance by twiddling her thumbs and playing with her fingers. In annoyance Rose hit Musa lightly on the leg to get her attention.

"Say hi to your friend," Rose demanded.

Musa raised her eyes to look at Riven. To Riven she looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Hi," Musa managed to mumble. She went back to looking at her fingers.

Knowing that Musa and Riven would probably need to hack it out with each other, Flora and Helia were whispering behind the couch to come up with a plan to get the two to talk to each other.

"Rose, Lily, time to say goodnight. It's very late and you guys need to get some rest," Flora sweetly said, although the undertones hinted that this wasn't a suggestion, but an order.

The girls gave out soft moans and groans complete with objections that it wasn't too late and that Musa promised them a song to which Flora told them Musa would sing later seeing that Musa would be staying overnight. Riven had felt his heart skip a beat to Flora's news, but passed it off as indigestion problems. Musa had flashed Flora a horrified look, but Flora had given Musa a stern, motherly look that told Musa that she would have no choice but to stay. Flora and Helia had collected the little girls and had proceeded to take them upstairs so that they could go to bed.

Riven and Musa remained in silence for a good ten minutes, sitting on the floor next to each other, both wanting to move, but neither actually going through with the thought, before they realized that Helia and Flora had left them to be alone in the living room and were not going to return unless they heard the conversation or eventual argument get too heated.

Musa looked at her fingers and noticed that her pinky had a nail that was chipped. Riven kept running his hand through his hair in an effort to calm his chaotic nerves.

Neither was willing to say the first word even though both knew one would have to speak eventually or neither was going to be able to leave Flora's and Helia's living room.

"So," Riven tried to begin. He glanced over at Musa. She was looking off to the side and was avoiding direct eye contact with him.

"We're not friends," Musa quietly stated.

"What?" Riven asked. He wasn't quite sure if he had heard her right, but if he had then he was not that happy with the response.

"We're not friends," Musa said a little louder and with a little more confidence. Her eyes stayed glued to the blue fabric of the couch that his back was leaning against.

"Huh?" Riven questioned still confused by her comment.

"You told Rose we are friends. We are not friends," she replied, her voice holding a slight steely tone.

"I only said that because she was asking too many questions and I couldn't flat out tell her that we had been in love but then something happened and now we don't like each other," Riven became defensive.

"I thought you said that you never loved me and it wasn't just "something"," Musa put air quotes on something to emphasize her point, "the event was you cheating on me and then telling me that I never meant anything to you, but you're right about one thing I don't like you though I can't speak for you right? You would always get so defensive, kind of like how you are now, whenever I would try to speak for you," Musa rattled off her rant. After she was done her chest was heaving as she tried to catch her breath from the quick speech. Riven wasn't surprised that she had gone off on him, but he wasn't done with his two cents either.

"I cheated because you were so goddamn," he trailed off.

"Goddamn what?" Musa hissed, her voice rising in volume by a decibel.

"You were so, ugh," he fumed.

"Say it, be a man for once and say it, instead of leading a girl on for five years and making her believe that the man she thought she loved was never in love with her," Musa spat.

"Really? You're going to fucking bring this up again? This is why I cheated! You were just so…you always wanted to pick a fight. Nothing was ever good enough. Whenever I got jealous, instead of being flattered you were annoyed. At least I cared enough to get jealous. I never knew you cared until you broke down after I slept with that girl because you never told me your feelings," Riven shot back.

"Like you were any better?" Musa hissed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riven asked his voice cold and his eyes dark. The two were still sitting across from each other. Their eyes were flashing red and their chests were heaving from the effort to rant quickly and loudly.

"You never told me your feelings," Musa laughed in his face, "I don't even know why I was surprised you said you had never loved me, after all you had never told me otherwise so I guess I was just stupid for believing that you did and believing that I meant anything to you. Next time I won't judge, I'll just wait for the person to tell me the truth."

Tears were beginning to form in the corners of Musa's eyes and the old emotions that she had buried were starting to resurface.

"Whatever," Riven growled.

"There you go again," she cried out in frustration.

"What do you mean?" Riven narrowed his eyes.

"You never want a confrontation. I'll quote you here, you can dish it, but you can't take it," Musa couldn't suppress a laugh that was a mixture between an evil and a maniacal laugh.

"You should be talking," he roared.

"I can't stand you," she jumped to her feet.

"I can't stand you," he echoed her and scrambled to stand up. They ended up being toe to toe and nose to nose. Musa could feel his hot breath cascading over her face and he could hear her short raspy breaths. He had missed this. It sounded terrible when you thought about it, but he had missed their arguments. They always got him electrified. He could feel the tension all throughout the tiny hairs on his arms.

"Well that's probably the only thing we have in common," Musa growled.

"I'm surprised we had anything in common to begin with," Riven couldn't help the smile that formed on his face.

"Why are you smiling?" Musa hissed. Her heart was pumping fast and she could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Granted she would never admit it, but she too was enjoying their verbal sparring.

"I missed this," Riven shrugged nonchalantly. He backed away from her so that their noses were no longer touching.

"You're such a, argh," she took a step back and turned away from him.

"Go ahead, say it," he ordered.

"You are such a dick," she turned around and looked him straight in the eye.

"And you, my dear, are a bitch," he returned the insult.

Musa shook her head in frustration and walked out of the living room, into the hallway that led to the front door where she was met by none other than Helia.

"Let me go," Musa whined.

"You're staying for the night. We finally got you guys to talk or argue or whatever you want to call it and you are definitely in no condition to go home. Besides we are your friends so stay with us and have breakfast in the morning," Helia suggested even though it was a borderline command.

"But he's here," Musa's voice raised an octave louder and her tone sounded like a little five year old.

"You're sounding like Rose," Helia let out a small chuckle.

"Hmph," Musa huffed and crossed her arms in front of her. Her face contorted into a pout and Helia burst into a full out laugh.

"It's not funny," Musa insisted, her voice sounding like Rose again.

"Come on, just stay for the night," he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around. Flora came into the hallway after talking Riven down and switched places with Helia. Flora placed a hand on Musa's back and pushed her up the stairs and down the hall to the second guest bedroom.

"You are a terrible friend," Musa rolled her eyes at Flora's actions in leaving Musa alone with Riven.

"You'll thank me later," Flora laughed and ignored Musa's comment, knowing that she didn't really mean it.

"We'll see about that," Musa let out a laugh. There was a glint in her eye that showed Flora that her suspicions were true, Musa was not mad at Flora and would eventually get over the ambush.

"Goodnight," Flora pushed Musa into the room and closed the door.

* * *

"So what was the fight about this time?" Helia asked. He was sitting on one side of the couch with Riven sitting next to the couch in the plush leather chair.

"The usual," Riven shrugged.

"Do you still love her?" Helia questioned, his question shouldn't have surprised Riven, but it did. He wasn't sure, did he still love her?

"Honestly, I don't know," Riven sighed, "even if I did, she'll never forgive me for cheating. I haven't even forgiven myself for giving up the best that happened in my life."

"It sounds like you still love her," Helia prodded.

"I don't even know anymore. How could she ever forgive me? I know that we just bantered tonight, but I think she was being serious for most of it. I don't know, tonight felt so right. It sounds weird, but Musa and I always argued and sorry for the details but it always ended up in something. We both took it that our fighting was our way of showing each other how we felt about each other. I guess we never had to tell each other that we loved the other out loud. We would fight it out instead," Riven shrugged. He wasn't even sure if he understood what he had said.

"Sounds like a dysfunctional relationship to me," Helia commented, although Helia was always one for romance like poems and flowers and such which just wasn't Riven.

"It might have been, but it was ours and despite not telling each other, we loved each other. I loved her, but I don't know if she can ever forgive me," Riven let out a pained sigh.

"Why don't you ask?"

"That's kind of a stupid question. You know that we would just start arguing again. I guess I've missed her so much that even a small argument with her or any interaction is okay with me and appeases my want of her," Riven realized that he had opened up a lot more than ever before, but this was Helia and Helia was someone that he could count on to not tell anyone, hopefully.

"You can't tell anyone this. Not even your wife or else," Riven threatened.

"I won't," Helia replied. Although it went against his morals to keep secrets from his wife he knew that it was really against his morals to tell a friend's secrets without their consent.

"I think I'm going to head up to bed," Helia informed Riven after sitting in silence with him for five or so minutes.

"Okay," Riven replied. His mind wasn't completely there. He was still replaying the argument or whatever it was in his head.

"Don't do anything stupid," Helia warned Riven before getting up and going to bed.

Riven wasn't sure what the comment meant, but he would soon find out in a few hours when he didn't heed Helia's warning.


	4. Chapter 4

This would definitely count as stupid. No, this would count as being a dumbass. This definitely would not be one of his defining moments. Now he understood what Helia said about not doing anything stupid. He just couldn't help himself.

He paced outside of the white door unsure if he should knock or give up completely and leave. His feet skidded on the carpet outside of the door. To knock or not to knock that was the question.

He lifted his fist against the door, thought better of it and took it down. Riven let out a relatively large sigh. Helia had told him not to do anything stupid. This whole idea could be considered stupid.

Riven, against his better judgment lifted his fist and tapped lightly on the door half wishing Musa was asleep and wouldn't answer the door and half hoping she would be awake and would answer.

Much to one side's dismay, Riven heard movement coming from the other side of the door. The door creaked open a crack and all Riven could think of doing was smiling like a dope and raising his hand in greeting. Inwardly he imagined himself slapping himself silly for being such an idiot.

"Riven, what are you doing here?" Musa opened her mouth widely in a yawn.

"I, er, don't really know actually," Riven replied clenching and unclenching his fists to keep his nerves from bursting out of his skin.

"Oh well, uh, goodnight," Musa went to close the door. In an act of stupidity, exactly what Helia warned against, Riven placed his foot in between the door and the doorframe so that it was impossible for Musa to close the door without using her powers, which Riven knew she wouldn't.

"Why don't you use magic anymore?" the question on his mind slipped freely from his mouth. His judgment had left him in favor of honesty.

"What?" Musa asked with a confused look on her face. She was barely awake and was talking to her ex nonetheless.

"Why won't you or why don't you use your magic anymore?" Riven repeated himself.

Musa shifted uncomfortably from her left foot to her right foot.

"I don't know what you mean," she tried to ignore his question.

"Yes you do," Riven prodded.

"I just don't," Musa hesitated.

"There has to be a reason," he pushed her.

"No there doesn't," she adamantly replied.

"Muse," he insisted.

"Don't call me that. I don't use magic because it reminds me of five years ago when we," she paused, "our friends were off saving Magix. My powers remind me of the good times I had back then when we were okay. I just don't like to delve in the past so I don't use my powers."

Riven nodded slightly. He wasn't so sure that he actually wanted to know the reason anymore after hearing the reason. She didn't use her powers because of him. That's not exactly what she said but he implied her words as that.

"Why are you staying with Flora and Helia?" Musa turned the tables on Riven.

"Something happened at my own apartment," Riven shrugged.

"What happened? I answered one of your questions now do me the honor of answering one of mine," she made an excellent point.

"Fine, it wasn't exactly a criminal that, uh, destroyed my apartment. It was an ex-girlfriend or rather she became an ex when she trashed everything," Riven awkwardly danced on his toes, bouncing from one to the other.

"Why'd she destroy it?" Musa blurted out.

"Well you see, we never specified that we were going to, um, see people exclusively so she caught me in bed with someone," Riven muttered.

Musa let out a peal of laughter. She couldn't believe it. Riven hadn't changed at all. He would still keep looking for better opportunities and he wasn't going to switch his ways.

"You haven't changed a bit," Musa said in between her laughs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riven demanded. On the inside he knew exactly what she meant, he ruined another relationship because he got caught cheating.

"You know what it means. Why are you even here? Were you feeling guilty because of our argument? Even if you apologized I wouldn't forgive you and I hope you know that," Musa said crossly.

"I didn't come here to apologize," Riven began.

"Well that's good to know. What did you come here for then?" Musa interrupted his spiel.

"I don't know what you want me to say then," he blurted out.

"What?"

"You want to be able to communicate or rather somewhat communicate, but when I reach out you want to argue and remind me of how I screwed up our relationship, even though it takes two to tango," he immediately regretted the last part only because he knew that Musa would have a field day with hacking him away for the comment.

"Excuse me?" Musa asked, giving him the opportunity to recant his statement.

"It takes two to tango. Yeah I cheated, but you were part of the reason I cheated. I agree that most of the blame lies with me, but you weren't at fault," he confidently replied. He wasn't backing down from this fight no matter what she said.

"Really? My fault for your insecurities and your impulsiveness? It was my fault that you went and slept with another girl? It was my fault that you told me you never loved me?" Musa argued, her voice getting louder.

"I'm just saying that you should share some of the blame not that it was your entire fault or all of mine," Riven hotly replied.

"Whatever, I'm discussing this. I'm tired and now I'm pissed off. Just leave me alone," Musa slammed the door in his face before he could stick his foot in between the doorframe and the door.

"Sure, run from an argument when it's not going your way. You're a coward," Riven yelled through the door. He didn't get a response in return and didn't figure that he would. The problem with them was that they couldn't just have a normal conversation; instead they would just have arguments. They may have grown older, but neither had really grown up. Yes, they loved to argue and definitely enjoyed it, but at the same time it was hard for either of them to actually listen to the other or forgive the other for past transgressions so most of the time the arguments were unnecessary and stupid.

Riven turned on his heel and walked down the hall towards his room. He opened the door, released a sigh and plopped down on the bed. It had been a hectic night. He had an argument with Musa that was thoroughly enjoyable, even if the topic hadn't been and then he had had the same argument only this time it was more of a "knife to your throat" type of argument which was not fun, but was entirely infuriating. He wasn't sure how to characterize this night.

Musa was meanwhile wide awake in her bed thinking about what Riven had said. It had been true that Musa was partly to blame for the problems in their relationship, but the image of him in bed with the other girl was burned into her head and wouldn't go away no matter what happened. Musa had been a little overbearing at times and did get snappy with him a lot, but he had let her down so many times and wasn't great at communicating, granted she wasn't either, but at least she had made an effort in the latter parts of their relationship. She sighed and rolled from her back onto her side. It was going to be a long, sleepless night.

* * *

"Musa! Come sit by me," Rose demanded as Musa trudged into the kitchen. Rose was seated at the table in the kitchen in a high chair and was pointing to the empty chair next to her.

Musa ignored the little girl and went over to Flora who was holding a cup of coffee for Musa to drink. She took the mug and gave Flora a thankful look.

Riven walked in a few minutes after Musa had and looked about the kitchen. Helia was standing patiently by the stove waiting for the eggs and bacon to cook while Flora and Musa were having a hushed conversation by the coffee machine.

"Uncle Riven, you're here," Lily piped up from the other high chair at the table.

Musa and Flora turned to look around at Riven. He noticed that Musa was avoiding eye contact with him. She leaned over and whispered something to Flora before walking over to the seat that Rose had pointed at a few minutes earlier.

"Riven come sit here," Lily pointed to the chair that was next to her and also happened to be next to Musa.

Riven couldn't deny the small child so he walked over to the seat and sat down.

Musa scooted away from him and closer to Rose which didn't go unnoticed by the former Specialist. He checked his phone to see if he had any messages from work. He had a message from Lynn, a girl that he had previously hooked up with, and a message from Xavier, one of his team members. He decided that he'd deal with the messages later.

Musa looked down at her thumbs and then looked around the kitchen to find Flora. She sent Flora a helpless look to which Flora shrugged. Rose was prattling away about her dream. Musa nodded, but wasn't really listening to what the small girl was saying.

"Are you going to stay here Musa?" Rose asked the fairy that was sitting next to her.

"I can't darling; I have to go to Solaria later today," Musa answered.

"Solaria?" Riven asked to clarify.

Musa didn't bother to turn and look at him; instead she looked over at Flora.

"I'm visiting Stella once I'm done," Musa ignored Riven's question.

"Have fun with Stella and Brandon's kids," Flora let out a chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"They aren't the most well behaved children," Riven replied for Flora.

"Oh," Musa said simply. She moved her eyes to look down at her fingers and began to pick at one of her nails.

"Musa are you going to sing for us?" Rose pleaded.

"I can't today, but I promise I will soon," Musa said. She hadn't really had a passion for music lately and that was saying a lot considering she was the music fairy.

"Layla called and said that we'd be meeting sometime soon," Flora told the group.

"Okay," Musa mumbled.

"Food's ready," Helia injected himself into the conversation from the stovetop.

Both Musa and Riven got up at the same time and awkwardly made their way around the other, careful not to accidentally brush arms or legs.

Musa collected her food which consisted of a piece of bacon, some eggs and two pieces of toast.

"This is really good, Helia," Musa said through a mouthful of toast.

"I agree with that," Riven added.

"One of the only things we'll agree on," Musa couldn't help but whisper under her breath.

"Thanks guys," Helia said.

Riven ignored Musa's mumbled comment and continued eating his own breakfast.

The group spoke in silence and once Musa was done she got up to leave the kitchen. Riven, still wanting to put in his opinion on their argument the other night, got up to follow her.

"We need to talk," a voice behind Musa said.

Musa turned around quickly and came face to face with her ex, someone that she was really trying to avoid.

"No we don't," Musa insisted. She looked towards the stairs, calculating her chances of being able to escape without him latching onto her to force her to talk.

"You know that you can't escape," Riven tracked her eye movements.

"If I used my magic I could," she huffed.

"So use it then," he challenged.

She was about to, but something stopped her and she changed her mind.

"What do you need to talk about?" she asked with annoyance.

"Us," Riven replied simply.

"There is no us," she spat. She was still a little upset with what he had said last night. She wasn't able to go back to sleep because of him.

"That may be so, but we will have to be civil with one another is we are to work as a team so I propose we have a truce of sorts or at least have some rules with how we interact," Riven explained diplomatically.

Musa thought on it for a minute and decided that it actually wasn't a bad idea especially if they were to be working as a team. If they were constantly bickering or didn't trust each other that could put the whole group at a risk.

"Fine, what are your conditions?" Musa asked.

"One, that we don't fight and have a truce of sorts," Riven said.

"Deal," Musa replied.

"Two, we have to trust each other, at least during times of battle or reconnaissance or such," Riven thoughtfully mused.

"That sounds reasonable," Musa nodded her agreement.

"Third, we at least try to act civil when we are near each other. I don't care if it takes us avoiding each other, but we do need to stay civil," Riven stated.

"That works," Musa put her hand out for him to shake on it.

He went for her hand before she pulled it back-

"One other condition," she said.

"Shoot," he encouraged her to speak.

"No small talk. If we're going to be civil, it might take avoiding each other, as long as we communicate on missions, but absolutely no small talk. It drives me crazy," Musa ordered.

"Deal," Riven responded. Musa put her hand out again and the two shook on the agreement or the truce, or whatever you want to call it.

Musa turned around and started walking towards the stairs again.

"Where are you going?" Riven asked curiously.

"I thought we agreed no small talk? Whatever, I'll let it slide. I'm getting my stuff so I can head out to Solaria," Musa said before making her way up the stairs. She wasn't so sure how this truce was eventually going to work out. She wasn't even sure if she could still trust Riven, but she had shook on it so the least she could do was try.

* * *

Musa stood on the grass of the backyard getting ready to use the portal spell. She hadn't used any magic in a while which is why she was surprised when Layla had called, but the Winx had always been stronger together so they had needed everyone.

She waved her arms and said the spell. When she looked up, the portal was open and all that was left to do was to walk through. She had already said goodbye to the twins and to Flora and Helia. Riven was off somewhere doing whatever it was that Riven does.

Without turning to look behind her, Musa walked through the portal and into Solaria.

* * *

"Musa, what a surprise!" Stella squealed as she went in for a big bear hug.

"Nice to see you too Stella," Musa choked out.

"What are you doing in Solaria?"

"I had a gig," Musa replied.

Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and Musa saw Brandon appear in front of her. Back in the day, besides Riven, Brandon was one of the specialists that was closest to her. He had always helped her decipher Riven and his actions.

"Hey Musa," Brandon said his greetings. Stella was still encasing Musa in a hug and it was beginning to take its toll as Musa could no longer feel her ribs.

"Stella, you can let go now," Musa pleaded.

"Oh, I'm sorry darling," Stella let go.

"So how's it going?" Musa asked, rubbing her ribcage.

"We're doing well," Stella remarked, looking over at her schnookums.

"The kids?" Musa inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"They're doing fine," Brandon said as he came up to Stella to put a hand on her back.

"Please tell me that you're going to be staying for the night," Stella insisted.

"I don't want to intrude," Musa hesitated.

"Oh you're not intruding, right Schnookums?" Stella turned to her husband and pinched his cheek.

Musa had to suppress a giggle because of their adorably, and sometimes disgusting, romantic gestures, granted Musa was a cynical person when it came to love, partly thanks to Riven.

"You should stay," Brandon said turning to Musa.

"I guess I will then," Musa replied to both of them.

Stella and Brandon went back into the house, more like castle or mansion, with Musa following behind them.

"Come on, I'll show you to the guest bedroom," Stella pulled on Musa's arm to steer her in the right direction.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Okay so this chapter may not be that great and it's kind of short, but I've been having terrible writer's block with this one because I'm conflicted with two different directions I can take this story. I've been trying to work it out, but I can't seem to decide. Anyways, this chapter is more filler than anything else. The next chapter will be either filler or something important and the one after that will most likely be about the mission, since that is the larger story arc. Enjoy, and be warned that I will probably make changes to this chapter when I'm feeling a little more motivated.**

**Previously**

"Musa, what a surprise!" Stella squealed as she went in for a big bear hug.

"Nice to see you too Stella," Musa choked out.

"What are you doing in Solaria?"

"I had a gig," Musa replied.

Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and Musa saw Brandon appear in front of her. Back in the day, besides Riven, Brandon was one of the specialists that was closest to her. He had always helped her decipher Riven and his actions.

"Hey Musa," Brandon said his greetings. Stella was still encasing Musa in a hug and it was beginning to take its toll as Musa could no longer feel her ribs.

"Stella, you can let go now," Musa pleaded.

"Oh, I'm sorry darling," Stella let go.

"So how's it going?" Musa asked, rubbing her ribcage.

"We're doing well," Stella remarked, looking over at her schnookums.

"The kids?" Musa inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"They're doing fine," Brandon said as he came up to Stella to put a hand on her back.

"Please tell me that you're going to be staying for the night," Stella insisted.

"I don't want to intrude," Musa hesitated.

"Oh you're not intruding, right Schnookums?" Stella turned to her husband and pinched his cheek.

Musa had to suppress a giggle because of their adorably, and sometimes disgusting, romantic gestures, granted Musa was a cynical person when it came to love, partly thanks to Riven.

"You should stay," Brandon said turning to Musa.

"I guess I will then," Musa replied to both of them.

Stella and Brandon went back into the house, more like castle or mansion, with Musa following behind them.

"Come on, I'll show you to the guest bedroom," Stella pulled on Musa's arm to steer her in the right direction.

* * *

"Thanks," Musa smiled as she was pulled through the hallway towards the guest wing of the castle.

The pair walked in silence until they walked up on a large mahogany door.

"Here you go. You can stay here for now," Stella motioned towards the room like she was modeling a prize on a game show.

"Thanks Stell," Musa couldn't suppress the yawn that her body needed.

"Where did you come from that got you so tired?" Stella asked.

"Flora's," Musa replied.

"Oh, er, did you see," Stella trailed off, knowing full well who was at Flora's.

"Yeah, I did," Musa grumbled, "where's Flora and Helia's son anyways?" Musa had wondered, but hadn't bothered to ask.

"Oh, he's with Saladian," Stella replied and Musa could vaguely remember that Helia was Saladian's nephew or grandson or something like that.

"I see," Musa replied. She could tell that Stella wanted to talk about what happened with Riven, but she just wasn't in the mood. Her verbal spats always turned emotional and wore her down.

"So, how was Flora's?" Stella questioned, pushing Musa to tell her what had gone down with Riven.

"It was fine. I think I'm going to get some sleep now, we can talk in the morning though," Musa suggested.

Stella nodded and then walked down the hallway so that Musa could get settled.

Musa walked into the large suite and was comforted by the fact that there was a large plush bed in the middle. She let out a large sigh and threw her bag next to the foot of the bed and jumped to land in the sheets of the bed.

She let out a laugh and turned over on her side, snuggling deeper into the blankets. She closed her eyes and began to drift into a blissful sleep.

* * *

_ "I don't understand," Musa whispered in shock. Riven had just mumbled something and she couldn't be sure, but it sounded like he had just told her he loved her. He wouldn't have done that though, he couldn't have. He wasn't that type of person. He was more likely to cut his head off than tell her how he felt about her. It might have been a little sad, but it was entirely true._

_ "I love you," he said a little clearer._

_ "What?" she exclaimed._

_ He rolled his eyes and Musa began to feel that it was the real Riven she was indeed talking to._

_ "Do I really need to repeat it?" he asked harshly._

_ Yup, this was definitely the Riven she was used to._

_ "No, I think I got it," she looked at him incredulously. She still couldn't believe that he had just said this. _

_ "Well?" he raised his eyebrow at her, waiting for her response._

_ She was completely flabbergasted. His confession had thrown her off and she, no matter what she did, couldn't find the nicely paved path back to sanity._

_ "I love you too," she finally whispered._

_ "Good," he replied before he pulled her into an embrace and brought his coarse lips down to hers._

_ It didn't feel right, the kiss, it just…didn't. This couldn't be real could it? Riven wasn't one to tell his feelings outright to her._

* * *

"Wake up sleepyhead!" Stella called from outside of the door.

Musa opened her eyes and couldn't make out her surroundings due to the blurriness.

"Wha?" she muttered groggily. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and began to see the room a little bit clearer.

"Open up! We need to talk," Stella prodded from the other side of the door.

"No!" Musa called back, unable and unwilling to get up from the plush, comfy sheets.

"Musa! Now!" Stella chastised.

Musa let out a groan and reluctantly rolled over on the bed until her feet her planted on the ground. She then lifted herself up off the bed and walked over to the door to open it. Stella hadn't changed one bit from her bossy, loud self that she was in high school and college.

"What do you want?" Musa whined.

"What happened?" Stella demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Musa feigned innocence and opened her mouth to let out a yawn.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. What went on with you and Riven?" Stella asked again, this time her voice a little more stern.

"Why does it even matter?" Musa walked over to the bed and fell on top of it, her face in her pillow.

"Because you still love him and I know he still likes you," Stella said, walking up to the bed.

"That's so not true," Musa's muffled voice came out.

"Yes it is. As much as I disapprove of him and would have rathered seen you work it out with Jared, you and Riven are too much alike to not be good together," Stella said with a little disgust in her voice, though it was hard for her to even admit that Riven and Musa were not that bad of a pairing.

"Wow, that's big of you. Just leave me alone," Musa begged from her pillow. She really wasn't in the mood to discuss her failed love life.

"Musa, stop acting like a six year old," Stella crossed her arms in front of her and pursed her lips together.

"He cheated on me Stella. To me, that's unforgiveable and I don't care what's said on either side, we are never getting back together," Musa cried out.

"That was like five years ago," Stella rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, it felt like it was just a few days ago, so there," Musa lifted her head and stuck her tongue out at Stella.

"The sad part is that you're supposed to be the responsible one," Stella sighed at Musa's preschool antics.

"So?" Musa blurted out.

"Musa, grow up. It was a long time ago, the least you could do is to at least talk civilly to him, maybe even discuss what happened," Stella suggested.

"When did you become responsible?" Musa looked at her usually perky friend.

"Since you didn't want to be," Stella reprimanded, but held a twinkle in her eye that showed she wasn't completely different.

"Either way, Riven and I won't work," Musa stated.

"Fine, then I get to set you up with someone," Stella squealed and Musa was reminded of the things that annoyed her about Stella, the need to play matchmaker.

"Oh really?" Musa decided to entertain Stella.

"I know the perfect person," Stella grinned and Musa felt a sinking feeling in her gut. Whenever Stella said she knew the perfect person she knew she was in for it, there was no getting away from a Stella set up.

"How about no?" Musa hoped that Stella wouldn't make her go on the stupid date.

"Nope, I'm calling him right now and you are going to go and have some fun. You deserve it," Stella laughed as she walked out of the room.

Musa could feel a throbbing pain in her temple and figured it was definitely because of Stella and her insane ideas. She forced herself to get up and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. On her way to the bathroom she checked her phone and saw the reminder from her manager that her gig was tomorrow and she had to show up early.

She undressed, walked into the shower and turned on the water. Once she felt that the water was a temperature in between hot and cold based on the water on her foot she walked her full body to be underneath the water spout. She could feel the droplets cascade down her body and sighed from the relaxing feeling.

She could hear her phone ringing, but decided to let it ring. She was finally able to relax and wasn't about to ruin her "Musa-time".

Once she was finished she dried herself off and wrapped her hair in a towel. She wrapped a plush bathrobe around her body and as comforted by the softness. It was like she was wrapped in a cloud from heaven.

"Musa?" a voice called from outside and Musa's heart dropped when she realized it was Stella, most likely back from arranging the date.

"What?"

"Let me in," Stella demanded.

Musa went and opened the door just as Stella ran in, obviously enthusiastic for Musa's date that had been forced upon the music fairy.

"He's going to meet you at HaLo tonight and he's going to be wearing dark jeans and a black polo," Stella informed her.

"I don't feel so good," Musa attempted to get out of the arranged date.

"I don't believe you. You're going to wear this," Stella brought the outfit that had been hidden behind her out. It was a black skirt with a white chiffon long sleeved collared shirt that Musa figured would be tucked into the skirt. Stella also had red, Musa's favorite color, heels in her hand and Musa inwardly groaned. She didn't like to wear heels anymore than she had to; they were too uncomfortable.

"Whatever," Musa took the ensemble from Stella before pushing her out of the room.

"Might as well make the best of a bad situation," Musa rolled her eyes before setting down the clothes on the bed.

* * *

"Have fun tonight!" Stella called out to her friend as Musa walked out the door.

"Sure," Musa replied sarcastically before she disappeared as the door closed.


End file.
